Chapter 944 – #204_Image Change (2)
#938
1.
All the homunculi were put into hibernation by the floodgates.
At that point, Siwoo and his group no longer needed to stay in the mortal realm.
His teacher’s health needed a thorough check-up, and Siwoo himself had to start working on the lotus’s usage and the establishment of the academy.
A week after Dorothy joined them.
While they were leisurely enjoying their vacation in the mortal realm, they returned to Gehenna as soon as the restoration of the ‘gate’ was complete.
Dorothy and Linne remained at the location point.
Even though the homunculi had disappeared, the location point’s original purpose was to monitor public enemies and provide a network for the exiles.
While he wished they could come with him, Gehenna’s laws were not lenient enough to allow public enemies into Gehenna.
Of course, he had no intention of giving up forever.
Bringing them both into Gehenna was one of Siwoo’s new goals.
“I’ll go meet Countess Geminae. Please go to sleep first.”
It was late, close to midnight, but he had to report.
No matter what, the owners of this mansion were Albireo and Deneb.
Plus, there were things he wanted to ask of them.
He walked through the red corridor, which felt even more welcoming after a long time, and arrived at his mothers-in-law’s office.
“I’ll be entering.”
He knocked and was about to open the antique door.
But the person who flung the door open before him was his beautiful younger mother-in-law.
“Siwoo!”
He always felt that the beauty of a witch was atrocious.
A thin silk nightgown like a dragonfly’s wing.
A delicate silhouette like a willow branch.
Just before his eyes were drawn to the white skin peeking out from under the shadows…
“Huu!”
Siwoo inhaled sharply, desperately fixing his gaze straight ahead.
He almost screwed up.
He had just returned in triumph, and if he messed up his gaze here, he would be in big trouble with his older mother-in-law.
He had clearly drawn a line that ‘there was nothing more than this’ in their immoral relationship of a mother-daughter double, which far exceeded the usual in-law relationship, even though it was only two people.
“You’ve returned safely.”
“D-Deneb… Please, this…”
Deneb, unaware of her son-in-law’s thoughts, ruthlessly hugged Siwoo tightly.
A soft and cozy sensation.
A seductive feeling that made him instinctively realize ‘she’s not wearing a bra.’ Siwoo quickly looked at his older mother-in-law.
As expected, his older mother-in-law’s eyes, with her hands on her chin, were coldly freezing over.
“Thank you for the warm welcome. May I come inside?”
“Oh my, I was being a bit too much again. Of course.”
“……”
Siwoo, who had escaped from Deneb’s embrace just before his older mother-in-law’s gaze reached absolute zero.
He couldn’t help but enter hesitantly, as if he had committed a crime.
“Deneb, what’s with your outfit? You knew Siwoo was coming. Are you trying to seduce him?”
“What are you talking about? I was about to go to bed when I came here in a hurry.”
“Never mind…”
Listening to their bickering while sitting on pins and needles made him wonder if he should have come at all.
Should he take comfort in the fact that their voices hadn’t gotten too loud?
“Siwoo.”
Albireo, who had been sighing deeply, finally spoke with a wry smile.
“Yes.”
“I heard the news.”
“Ah, yes.”
“You’ve done well. I never thought the day would come when I would praise Siwoo after he went to the mortal realm and came back. I don’t know if this is a dream or reality.”
It seemed that the reason his older mother-in-law hadn’t exploded was because Siwoo had achieved so much.
“And you didn’t make a new girlfriend.”
…Maybe that was the biggest reason.
“Even if she says that, there isn’t a witch in the salon with a nose as high as my sister’s these days.”
“Deneb…!”
“She’s been strutting around so proudly that I’m embarrassed for her.”
“R-Really?”
“Of course. You dealt with the ‘Witch of Rebellion,’ who was the main culprit of this incident, and even stopped the ‘Flood.’ Siwoo’s value is skyrocketing every day.”
“You’re such a tattletale…!”
It felt strange.
His haughty older mother-in-law wasn’t denying it.
It meant that what Siwoo had done was indeed worthy of such praise.
Albireo was fanning herself to cool down, and Deneb was giggling at the sight.
“Anyway, Siwoo. Seeing you come all the way here at this hour, there must be another reason, right?”
Albireo cleared her throat and continued.
He hadn’t come here just to report.
“Ah, yes. You probably heard, but I’m planning to establish an academy.”
“Yes, we heard.”
Siwoo had previously persuaded the witches of Gehenna to stop the invasion of the monster army.
Among them, the clause that he would accept the witches who helped him into the academy was the biggest selling point, allowing him to receive support from the witch army.
“I didn’t say that just to get help right away. I think I need to build my foundation and create a power base. And the fastest way to build power in this city is through an academy.”
Deneb and Albireo, who had been bickering just moments ago, widened their eyes and exchanged glances.
“I would be grateful if I could get your help.”
“Is that a request from Siwoo as a son-in-law to his mothers-in-law? Or is it a request from the new head of the academy to Countess Geminae?”
The chaotic atmosphere from just a moment ago disappeared in an instant.
Suddenly, Albireo’s voice was filled with dignity.
This was closer to Albireo’s true nature.
That is, Albireo when she was dealing with the work of a countess.
When she heard that he had set the condition of establishing an academy, she had expected it to be at the level of a club, of which there were hundreds in Gehenna.
Therefore, Albireo had been willing to help Siwoo.
But the moment he mentioned his ‘power base,’ things were no longer simple.
The Geminae family was in contact with the Emerald Tablet and the Truth and True Name Academic Society, which were huge academic factions, and was generating enormous profits.
If what he wanted was to build a faction to secure power and influence within the city, she couldn’t move lightly.
This was an issue that could affect not only the family but also the twins who would inherit the family in the future.
If Shin Siwoo was just relying on his mothers-in-law’s backing and demanding unreasonable support and full backing, it was right to refuse.
“……”
Deneb, knowing her sister’s sharp and decisive nature, clasped her hands together, hoping he would answer well.
“Advice alone is enough.”
“Hoo…”
Deneb was relieved to see that Siwoo had chosen a safe answer, whether he had read the atmosphere or had planned it from the beginning.
“At first.”
The words that followed betrayed her.
Deneb tried to defend Siwoo.
“Siwoo… No, sister, maybe what Siwoo is trying to say isn’t that.”
“Deneb, wait. Let him finish.”
“The beginning may be a small academy like any other in Gehenna, but I plan to gradually expand my base. If I can achieve a reputation that the Geminae family wouldn’t be ashamed of, then I might ask for some favors.”
“Hmm… Why did you suddenly have this idea? I thought Siwoo was a pretty easygoing person. You’re doing well enough as it is, aren’t you?”
Albireo stared at Siwoo as if testing him.
“Just being our son-in-law, you don’t have to worry about money for the rest of your life. It’s embarrassing for me to say it myself, but you won’t be lacking in social status either.”
“That’s not enough.”
“Then?”
“I want the power to protect the people around me. I want enough power so that no one has to be in danger.”
“Siwoo, you’re still young.”
Seeing him meet her gaze without any particular tension or intimidation, she was filled with emotion.
When she had first talked to him a few years ago, when he had saved the twins from the homunculus attack.
He had nothing back then, but in just a few years, he had come this far, where he could confidently say these words.
“Being young is a good thing. It’s not about weighing the feasibility, but about acting immediately when you feel it’s time to move. Asking for favors is bad, but if everyone else is doing bad things, we can’t be the only ones not doing it, right?”
Albireo, who had been satisfied with her wine glass, nodded.
“Come to tea tomorrow. We’ll talk in detail then.”
“Yes!”
Albireo showed a pleased smile to her son-in-law, who had passed the test.
Deneb was also able to breathe a sigh of relief.
2.
Around that time.
Ruelle, who had returned to Gehenna after a long time, was walking towards the twins’ room.
Even though Shin Siwoo had returned a month ago, she hadn’t gotten out of bed, so she assumed they were sleeping, but she was planning to sleep next to them just in case.
“It was a truly satisfying time.”
Ruelle had to stay alone in the submarine from before her succession until after.
This mission was a special time for Ruelle.
In fact, she was treated like a queen while staying in the mortal realm.
The majesty of the 23rd rank was immense, and if Ruelle kept her mouth shut, she really looked like a queen on the outside.
But the more she was praised while wearing a mask, the emptier she felt.
All the honor and praise were nice, but she missed the twins.
Odile and Odette were, no matter what, Ruelle’s first friends who knew her true self.
Ruelle tiptoed into the bedroom, careful not to wake the twins, and was shocked.
Next to the fireplace, which was covered, there were two cylindrical machines that were humming and spinning.
“W-What is this?”
Ruelle was horrified by the machine that looked like a capsule from a spaceship.
“Hmm?”
“Sister, was that Ruelle just now?”
“I think so?”
When she heard the twins’ voices coming from inside the machine, she was twice as shocked.
-Giiing
The capsule opened smoothly with a mechanical sound.
The twins, with a blue glow as a halo, walked out in bikinis.
Ruelle involuntarily covered her eyes from the blue light that emanated from within.
“Ruelle, you’re here?”
“What, then did Assistant-nim come too? Why are you the only one here?”
“What is it? What are those strange machines? What, what were you doing?”
Odile and Odette, who were bewildered by the sudden situation, grinned at Ruelle.
“Ah, this?”
“What else could it be?”
“Image change.”
“Ge.”
The amount of light suddenly decreased.
Only then, when she had become accustomed to the darkness, did Ruelle realize that their skin was a healthy bronze color.
